The present invention pertains to conveyors, and, in particular, to a transfer apparatus for conveyors.
When articles are moving along a conveyor, it is sometimes desirable to remove some articles from the main conveyor line and transfer them onto alternate conveyors or onto a platform or other device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,718 "Fazio" discloses a transfer station at which the articles may be transferred off the main conveyor to the left or to the right, or the articles may be permitted to continue travelling along the main conveyor path.
There are several drawbacks to the arrangement shown in the Fazio patent. For example, that design requires that there be enough space between the conveyor rollers for the width of two transfer belts--one moving to the left and one moving to the right. This leaves a fairly wide gap between conveyor rollers which may create some instability in conveying the products when the products are moving straight through the transfer station. In addition, the transfer belts in the Fazio design are constantly driven and are intermittently stretched as the transfer direction is changed. This creates a situation in which the transfer belts experience substantial wear. It also consumes more power than would be consumed if the transfer belts could be driven only when they were needed. The Fazio design also has many moving parts, with two sets of transfer belts being shifted up and down.